


And They Were Roommates (Oh My God They Were Roommates)

by ukulelekatie



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Blind Date, F/F, One Shot, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 12:02:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15194372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukulelekatie/pseuds/ukulelekatie
Summary: What happens when Kirsch tries to set his tutor up on a blind date with his friend?





	And They Were Roommates (Oh My God They Were Roommates)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this prompt: http://ukulelekatie.tumblr.com/post/174675074896/
> 
> "One of my friends set me up on a blind date with one of his friends. Turns out it was my roommate. We are both gay and didn't know it."

“I still don't understand this Baobab guy. And what’s a mead hall?” 

 

“Well first of all, his name is Beo _ wulf _ .”

 

“Wait, so he’s a wolf?” 

 

Laura inhales deeply, trying not to get frustrated at the boy she’s tutoring. “No, he’s very much a human. Beowulf is just his name.” 

 

Kirsch sighs, drooping his shoulders in defeat and anxiously rubbing his temples. “Aww jeez, I’m gonna fail this midterm. I’m gonna fail this  _ class _ ,” he frets. 

 

“No, you're not. I think you're just having some trouble with the language. We’re working with what’s thought to be the oldest surviving Old English poetry here. Why don't we go through the verses and make an outline, and then develop a topic for your paper from there?” Laura proposes. 

 

Kirsch nods nervously, and re-opens his copy of  _ Beowulf.  _ Laura returns to hers, and they begin working through it together, little by little. 

 

As it turns out, Kirsch is actually a great writer with brilliant ideas as long as knows what he’s writing about. Before long, Laura has helped him thoroughly understand and interpret the text and even develop a thesis statement for his term paper. 

 

“There, see? You  _ totally  _ get the material, it's just hard to digest,” Laura reassures him. 

 

“Thanks for helping me with this paper. I was gonna go to the TA—you know, that tall redhead Summer—but she kinda scares me. I think she has a vendetta against Zetas.” 

 

Laura knows exactly who Kirsch is talking about. She laughs, remembering her time in Lit 101 the previous semester and her rocky relationship with her ex-TA and ex-almost-girlfriend. “No problem, Kirsch. And don't worry, Danny’s not as scary or mean as she seems. Just don't get on her bad side,” she says. “Anyway, good work today. I think you're on the right track for a great paper.” 

 

She finishes putting her books and pens back into her bag and swings it over her shoulder. Thinking her conversation with Kirsch is over, she gets ready to go. But before she takes a single step, he stops her. 

 

“So, I was wondering, if, uhh, you wanted to hang out sometime. Like there's this Zeta party on Friday, and we could go. You know, together.” 

 

Laura is taken aback by Kirsch’s question. Her mouth gapes open and she stares at him, unsure of what to say. “Thanks for the offer, Kirsch, but I’m like suuuuper gay.” She gives him a sorry smile. 

 

“ _ Oh _ . That's cool, I respect that. Well, if you ever want to hang as bros, hit me up! I mean we clearly have a lot in common! You took Lit 101, I’m taking it now. You like ladies, I also like ladies... Hey, I could be your wingman! Help you pick up chicks. I know plenty of girls who’d be into a ladybro like you.”

 

Laura stares at him inquisitively. “Uh, sure. Good luck on your paper! See you here next Wednesday, and text me if you have questions before then!” She rambles, then shuffles off to the opposite section of the library to work on her own assignments. 

 

All in all, the spring semester at Silas University was off to a great start. She was ace-ing her tests, getting involved with the student newspaper, and even landed a sweet (paid!) tutoring gig. The only thing that wasn't looking up? The roommate situation. 

 

It all started when Betty, her previous roommate, had finally been accepted to her dream school, Princeton. She was overjoyed to leave Styria and start a new college career in New Jersey, and she transferred at the end of the fall semester, just before winter break. Laura was happy for her of course, but she missed her dearly—they got along extremely well despite their drastically different personalities and social lives, and were even on track to becoming close friends.

 

It certainly didn't help that her hopes of living alone the following semester were crushed by the university. No, they insisted that Laura could not live in a double as if it were a single (a dingle, as Laf called it). The vacancy had to be filled at once. And so they sent Carmilla in to live with her. 

 

Carmilla was nothing like Betty. In fact, they were polar opposites. She was messy and broody and rude, often leaving her clothes everywhere and stealing Laura’s snacks without permission and keeping Laura up late with loud rock music. And she completely ignored the chore wheel that Betty had diligently followed. The girl’s roommate etiquette was practically nonexistent, and it drove Laura’s anger through the roof. 

 

And yet, there was something about Carmilla that enthralled Laura. The girl was gorgeous, first of all. And even when she was in the middle of doing one of the many things that made Laura crazy, Laura often found herself staring at her for a little longer than she'd like to admit. There was also a softer side to Carmilla, a more melancholy and vulnerable one that came out when Laura caught her staring wistfully out the window at the sky late one night.

 

They weren't exactly friends like she and Betty were, but Laura had to admit that she was starting to enjoy Carmilla’s company, even if she was a pain in the ass most of the time. And deep down, part of her held onto the tiniest scrap of hope that they would eventually become close... 

 

Laura shakes her head, attempting to shift focus back to her work. Now is not the time to think about her complicated relationship with her roommate. 

 

***

 

“So, how’s that new roommate of yours?” Will asks Carmilla as he takes a swig of his beer.

 

He’s lounging next to Carmilla on his bed, with Kirsch sprawled out on his own bed on the other side of the room. Mel is sitting on a swivel chair, lazily pivoting back and forth.

 

“Ugh. I don’t even know where to start. She's prissy and annoying and she  _ never _ shuts up. I’m such an idiot for moving out of that forced triple,” Carmilla complains. 

 

“You’d seriously pick being crammed in a tiny room with  _ two _ annoying roommates over just her? Wow, she must really be terrible,” Mel comments. 

 

Carmilla lets out a dry laugh. “At least the other two were too afraid of me to bother me,” she says, smirking at the memory of her previous roommates. She never cared to learn either their names, just their irritating habits. Roommate number one, the tall one, monogrammed everything she owned, including her underwear. Roommate number two, the short one, spent the majority of the semester weeping over her ex-boyfriend. Carmilla mainly kept her distance—partly by choice, and partly because Short and Tall seemed too intimidated by her to acknowledge her presence in the room. Even so, she could only handle the monogramming and crying for so long. 

 

So when Carmilla received word from the University of a spot opening up in a double across campus, she jumped on the opportunity to move out of her triple, thinking half the roommates would be half the hassle. 

 

Oh, how wrong she had been. 

 

“Sure, living with them was a pain in the ass, but Little Wannabe Lois Lane is far worse. She's nosy and bossy and tightly-wound, and she’s got this unrealistically optimistic outlook on life that’s so naive and childish. She’s constantly in my business, telling me what to do or when to clean or that my music is too loud,” she continues, remaining completely unaware that the corners of her mouth had turned upward into the slightest smile during her rant.

 

She looks at her friends and brother, who are all staring at her amusedly. “What?” 

 

“I think someone has a crush,” Will teases, flashing her a smug smile. 

 

“I do  _ not _ ,” she snaps. 

 

“Whoa, Kitty, I’m just insinuating that maybe you like this girl more than you want to admit.” 

 

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “ _ Fine _ . She’s cute, I’ll give her that.” 

 

“A-ha! I knew it was just an act.” Kirsch pipes in. “So, you gonna go for it? Work that Karnstein charm?” 

 

Carmilla shrugs. “I’ve tried. She's oblivious to flirting. Being smooth with her is like trying to ask out a brick wall.” 

 

“Maybe she’s straight,” Mel offers. 

 

“Oh, please. A straight girl wouldn’t own that many button ups,” Carmilla protests

 

Mel tilts her head slightly. “You never know. Remember that sophomore I was crushing on before I met Charlotte? She had a whole snapback collection? Straight as a board.” 

 

“Whatever.” Carmilla lifts her beer to her lips and takes a sip. 

 

“Clearly you need a distraction from your roommate,” Will says.

 

“You need to get  _ laid.”  _ Mel corrects. 

 

“Says the one who’s in a long distance relationship with a ghost.” 

 

Mel rolls her eyes. “Just because you've never met Charlotte doesn't mean she isn't real, you dimwit.”

 

“Come to the Zeta party this weekend. There’ll be plenty of eligible ladies there,” Will adds. 

 

Carmilla glares at him. “Willy-boy, when have I ever been interested in going to some loud, sweaty frat party?” 

 

“Oh—Oh! Oh!” Kirsch begins jumping up and down excitedly. He raises his hand, wiggling his fingers, as if he’s waiting for someone to call on him. 

 

“Spit it out, meathead,” says Carmilla. 

 

“Okay. I know the perfect girl to take your mind off your roommate. She’s been tutoring me in Lit, helping me out with my paper on that Bae Wolf guy. Anyway, you won't need to worry about her being straight because I already asked her out and she said that she’s ‘super gay’ and all that,” he rambles. “She's a total hottie. And kind of a nerd. A nerd hottie. Real smart.” 

 

Carmilla crosses her arms. “Oh no. There is no way I’m letting you set me up with some preppy little--” 

 

“Come on, sis. Have a little fun,” Will pleads. 

 

“I think you should do it, Vampirella,” Mel adds. 

 

Kirsch grins. “I’ll set the whole thing up. It’ll be a blind date!” 

 

Carmilla groans. This was going to be a disaster. 

 

***

 

Laura carefully scans through the last sentence of Kirsch’s  _ Beowulf  _ paper. After scribbling a few more annotations in the margins, she slides it back to him with a grin. “Wow, Kirsch, this is a great first draft!” she exclaims. “It’s coming along really well. You’ve got some excellent points in there so far. I’ve marked a few paragraphs that I think could use a little work, like the part about Grendel’s mother. But overall you’re doing a good job of connecting back to your thesis and including examples from the text.” 

 

Plus, he finally understands that Beowulf has nothing to do with wolves, but she doesn’t feel the need to mention that. 

 

“So, yeah. Read through my comments and do some editing, and you’ve got a fantastic paper on your hands!” 

 

She watches Kirsch’s nervous energy subside almost instantly. “Thanks, Hollis! You really saved me. Honestly, I couldn’t have done this without you,” he gushes. 

 

“Hey, you did all the hard work,” she insists. 

 

“Still, I really appreciate it. Oh, hey, you know how I kinda asked you out last week?”

 

Laura opens her mouth, about to go on a rant along the lines of ‘ _ Say it with me now. I am a lesbian. Biggest gay ever. That’s me. I like girls. Girls are great. Mnnmmm girls’,  _ but Kirsch continues. 

 

“I know a girl I think you’d totally be into. I’m bros with her bro.”

 

Laura is confused. “So, your sister?” She asks, squinting.

 

“No, not like, literal bro. Her brother is a Zeta and we hang out sometimes. She comes across as kind of a hardass but she’s sweet once you get to know her. And she’s super sexy. And she likes to read! You’d have a lot to talk about.”

 

“Uhh, thanks Kirsch, but I don’t know if--”

 

“I already told her all about you and she’s totally on board with meeting you. Come on, let me set you up with her! It’s the least I can do after you’ve helped me with this paper.” 

 

Laura sighs. “Alright. I guess one date wouldn’t hurt me. I do need to get out more, anyway. My jerkface roommate has been bugging the crap out of me lately. What’s her name?”

 

“I’m not telling! It’s gonna be a blind date. I’ll send you the details on where and when to meet and you’ll find out who she is when you get there. Cool?”

 

“...Cool.” 

 

“Yes! This is gonna be so exciting. Wilson Kirsch, badass essay writer and matchmaker extraordinaire,” Kirsch says, pumping his fist in the air. 

 

Laura immediately regrets this.

 

***

 

“Ugh. They're serving meatloaf _again?_ That's the third time this month,” Carmilla mutters to herself as she makes her way through the buffet, wrinkling her nose at the lackluster options. She finally settles on some far-from-authentic stir fry noodle dish and weaves through the busy tables of the Silas University dining hall until she finds an empty seat at a relatively secluded spot to eat her lunch. 

 

Carmilla takes an old, paperback book out of her bag and flips through the pages. Eventually she finds her place in the middle of the reading she was  _ supposed  _ to complete the night before. She had been making great progress too until she was so rudely interrupted by her nuisance of a roommate nagging her about leaving hair in the shower drain, which then exploded into yet another one of their famous debates about chores. But she couldn't complain too much. The little cupcake is truly adorable when she’s angry, with her hand gestures and the rambling and the way she scrunches up her nose. 

 

Carmilla sighs. Even now Laura is preventing her from concentrating, and she’s not even here. Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she does have a crush on her. 

 

She returns to her reading, scanning the pages as fast as she could while still trying to absorb as much information as possible before her quickly-approaching class.

 

It’s not long until she runs into a completely different distraction—well, technically, it runs into her. 

 

“Good news, Carm-sexy!” Kirsch exclaims, flopping into the seat across from Carmilla and setting down a plate piled high with mediocre all-you-can-eat university dining hall quality pizza. He picks up a slice and devours half of it in one huge bite. 

 

Carmilla is admittedly annoyed at her uninvited lunch guest. She really needed to finish her reading before her next class, and that was never going to happen with this idiot around. 

 

“Good for who?” She asks, not bothering to look up from the book she was holding inches from her face with one hand. Her other hand is busy twirling a forkful of noodles around her plate. 

 

“You, obviously! So I talked to that girl who’s been tutoring me in Lit class and I mentioned you and she said yes!” Kirsch says in between bites of pizza. 

 

“Yes to what, exactly?” 

 

“You’ve got a date!” Kirsch says, a little too loud and enthusiastically, even for a busy dining hall during the daily lunch rush. A few students from surrounding tables turn to glance at him judgmentally. 

 

Carmilla peers up at him from over the pages she was reading. “Terrific,” she says, deadpan. 

 

“Aren’t you excited?” Kirsch asks, concerned.

 

“Not exactly, beefcake.”

 

Kirsch looks at her as if he were a puppy and she’d just kicked him. “Well, she’s a real cutie, and she’s really looking forward to your date! Don't make me cancel on her, dude, she’d be so sad and that’s totally not cool.” 

 

Carmilla returns to her reading. “I never actually agreed to this, you know. You, my brother, and Xena 2.0 took it upon yourselves to play Lesbian Bachelorette.” 

 

“What? Come on.” 

 

Carmilla doesn't need to take her eyes off her reading to know that Kirsch is giving her the puppy-dog eyes he’s mastered so well. 

 

She lets out an exasperated hiss of a breath. “Listen. I have a class in twenty minutes and I really have to finish my lunch  _ and _ this chapter before then. If I say yes will you leave me alone?”

 

“So you’ll go?” 

 

“Yes, fine,” Carmilla huffs.

 

Kirsch’s entire face lights up. “Awesome! You're so gonna thank me for this later, bro.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

***

 

Laura stares into the small mirror that sits on her desk, carefully combing through her long, honey-colored hair and smoothing wrinkles out of her favorite button up (the dark blue one with little white bows printed on it). She tilts her head to the side, examining her appearance, unsure of whether she looks acceptable for a date— _ Her _ date. Which will be occurring in roughly an hour at a small café about a ten-minute walk from campus, according to her most recent text messages from Kirsch. 

 

She applies a coat of lipstick. It’s nothing too bold or loud, just a soft, neutral, barely-there shade. She does want to look her best and make a good impression on this mystery girl, after all

 

But of course, after looking at her reflection again, Laura starts to second guess herself. Maybe the lipstick was a little overboard, especially for an occasion as casual as meeting a girl for coffee. And sure, first impressions are important, but so is being herself. She doesn't want to give the  _ wrong  _ impression or make herself out to be someone she's not. It’s probably best that she present herself the way she would on a regular basis, and that would mean going lipstick-free.

 

Laura ultimately decides to wipe the lipstick from her face... Which ultimately turns out to be a huge mistake. The lipstick smudges across her mouth and cheek, making her look less like a put-together university student and more like a circus clown. 

 

She’s in the process of frantically rubbing the pink smudges off her face when she hears the door creak open. 

 

“Hey.”

 

Laura jumps and turns around. There, behind her, is Carmilla. The girl slinks into the room, lazily dropping her bag onto her bed. She then approaches the desk and stands there, looming behind Laura.

 

_ Great,  _ Laura thinks,  _ just the person I want to see. “ _ Uh, hey Carmilla!” She says, trying to hide her frustration at her roommate and at the lipstick situation

 

Carmilla gives her a puzzled look. “You got a little—”

 

“Yeah! I  _ know _ that.” Laura snaps, not bothering to look at Carmilla as she says it.

 

“Someone’s twitchy today.” 

 

Laura rolls her eyes. “I’m not  _ twitchy.  _ There is an absence of twitching here.” 

 

“Sure.” Carmilla says, but she doesn't sound too convinced. 

 

Laura finally finishes removing the smudged lipstick from around her mouth. “Fine. If you  _ must _ know, I have a date, and I’m kinda nervous.” 

 

Carmilla’s perfect eyebrows raise, and her lips purse ever so slightly. “Oh. Well, have fun. Don’t do anything stupid,” she says. 

 

Laura is perplexed. “...Thanks?” 

 

Carmilla leans over Laura, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and gazing into the mirror. It is then that Laura notices a narrow, black object in Carmilla’s hand: a tube of eyeliner. She watches through the mirror in awe as her roommate smoothly and quickly applies the eyeliner in two flawless, identical, wing-shaped strokes. After brushing a hand through her bangs, Carmilla pivots on her heel and walks back to her side of the room, where she shrugs on her leather jacket and heads for the door.

 

“Where are you going so soon? You just got here,” Laura asks.

 

Carmilla grins. “I have to keep some of my air of mystery, don't I?” And like that, she heads out the door.

 

...Only to come back a second later. “Oh, and cupcake?” She gestures to Laura’s face. “You still have some lipstick on your cheek.” 

 

“ _ Thank you, Carmilla,”  _ Laura says through gritted teeth. 

 

***

 

Despite Kirsch’s vague directions, Carmilla arrives at the café on time. It’s a tiny, cutesy, barely noticeable place nestled in between a computer repair shop and a bookstore. 

 

She pushes the door open and enters the interior of the venue. It’s just as charming as the outside, decorated with lots of potted plants, artsy photos on the wall, and string lights lining the edges of the room.The menu is scrawled in chalk on a blackboard above the counter. The air is filled with the smell of coffee and freshly-baked pastries, and an indie singer-songwriter track floats softly above the din of patrons chatting over their drinks.

 

It’s not Carmilla’s usual date location, that’s for sure. 

 

She spots Kirsch sitting alone at a table in the back corner of the room. His face lights up when he notices her, and and he excitedly flags her down. 

 

“Wow, I can't believe you actually showed up!” 

 

Carmilla sits down at the seat across from him, facing away from the door. She doesn't bother to take off her jacket, or even remove her hood. She just folds her hands together on the table and stares directly into the eager eyes of the young man across from her. “Listen, brotein shake, let’s get this straight. I swear, if this date ends up being some weirdo I will rip out your eyeballs and feed them to you right here.” 

 

“Whoa there, angry pants,” Kirsch splutters. “Like I said, it’s all gonna be just peachy. We’re best buds! I know your type, and this girl is perfect for you.” 

 

“If you insist,” Carmilla says, distractedly picking at her cuticles. “So, when is this mystery girl supposed to arrive?” 

 

“Should be any minute now. I hope she's not lost.” Kirsch takes his phone out of his pocket to check for new messages.

 

“Or blowing us off,” Carmilla adds. 

 

Just then, she hears the chime of the bell attached to the door as it swings open.

 

“Don't look now, but she's here! This is gonna be so exciting!” Kirsch says. He waves at whoever just walked into the cafe, practically jumping out of his seat. “Here she comes!” 

 

***

 

Laura steps into the café and is instantly charmed by the warm, inviting environment. She wonders why she's never heard of this place during her time at Silas so far. Loosening her scarf, she begins scanning the crowded room for signs of Kirsch. 

 

It doesn't take very long to find him—he’s waving at her animatedly from a table on the opposite end of the café. On the other side of the table, facing away from her, is a woman clad in a black leather jacket. Her hood is up, concealing the back of her head from Laura’s view. She doesn't bother to turn around. 

 

Laura hesitantly starts making her way to their table. She is admittedly nervous about meeting this mystery girl, especially since, judging by her body language, she doesn't seem too jazzed about meeting Laura. But she approaches them anyway. 

 

“Hey, ladybro! So glad you made it,” Kirsch says, the hugest grin on his face. Meanwhile, the seated girl begins to turn around. Laura catches a glimpse of her pointed nose, and her dark wavy hair sticking out of her hood. “Anyway, this is—” 

 

_ “Carmilla?!”  _ Laura interrupts. 

 

“Laura.” Sure enough, Carmilla is staring up at her, wide-eyed. The girl shakes her head slowly, causing her hood to fall down and hang behind her shoulders.

 

Laura’s mouth gapes open. “No. No way. This can't be happening.” 

 

“Well, this is...” 

 

“Okay, this has to be a joke.”

 

Kirsch stares at both of them, absolutely dumbfounded. “Hold up. You two  _ know  _ each other? Will one of you please tell me what’s going on?” 

 

“Um, Kirsch, Carmilla and I are  _ roommates.”  _ Laura explains, giving the clueless boy an awkward smile. Carmilla, on the other hand, is staring daggers at him.

 

Kirsch’s jaw drops. “This means... the whole time... Oh my god, they were roommates,” he mutters to himself. He turns to Laura, his mouth still very much open. “So, you're her prissy roommate.” And to Carmilla. “And you're her jerkface roommate. Everything makes sense now.” 

 

The three of them spend a moment in awkward silence, none of them sure of how to react or what else to say.

 

Suddenly, Kirsch stands up. “Okay, well, it's been nice talking to you both! Have fun together,” he says sheepishly, and just like that, he’s gone.

 

Kirsch’s absence does nothing to fix the awkward. Laura is still standing over the table, shocked, while Carmilla remains seated, rubbing the bridge of her nose. 

 

Laura tries to break the silence. “So... You think I’m prissy.”

 

Carmilla looks up at her, her face unreadable. “And you think I’m a... what was the word again? Jerkface?”

 

Laura winces. “Sorry about that.”

 

Carmilla shrugs. “It’s cool. I probably deserve that title. We got off to a rough start as roommates.” 

 

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, but it’s broken by Laura’s laugh. “This is unreal. What are the chances? I didn't even know you were friends with Kirsch! You two barely have anything in common.”

 

“He’s friends with my brother, William. They're both Zetas,” Carmilla answers, matter-of-factly.

 

“Hold on, you have a brother? And he goes to this school? Wow, there really is a lot I don't know about you.” 

 

“You're one to talk, buttercup. I didn't even know you were into ladies.” 

 

“Oh, yeah. I’m like, so gay. The gayest of the gay. Wait, how did you not know that?” 

 

Carmilla lets out a dry laugh. “Clearly we haven't been communicating well as roommates.” 

 

“Well, we could change that.” The words just slip out of Laura, earning her a surprised look from the dark-eyed girl. “I mean, we came all this way. It would be kind of impractical to just go home at this point. We might as well stay and get to know each other a little better.” 

 

“I’d like that,” Carmilla says, her voice soft and sultry. She removes her jacket, drapes it around the back of her seat, and slowly gets up until they're staring eye to eye. Carmilla is standing so close that Laura can smell her warm, earthy perfume. It’s practically intoxicating, combined with the scent of leather from her jacket, and Laura has to grip onto the edge of the table to keep her balance. “Why don't you make yourself comfortable? I’ll get us some drinks. Coffee?” 

 

“Actually I’m more of a hot cocoa kind of girl,” Laura squeaks.

 

Carmilla looks at her, amused. “Of course you are.”

 

***

 

Carmilla soon returns with two mugs of hot cocoa and a pair of chocolate croissants, and they dig into their snacks and their conversation. It starts out trivial and awkward, with both of them discussing their connections to Kirsch, which then evolves into them bonding over his clueless but well-meaning, puppy-like demeanor.

 

Eventually, though, their discussions blossom and deepen until the two roommates start opening up to each other. Laura learns a lot about about Carmilla’s family—her brother, their sister, their mother, and all of the chaos that ensues when they’re together. Carmilla learns that Laura is the only child of a very protective single dad. Carmilla tells Laura about her favorite books, the places she’s traveled, the places she’d like to visit someday. Laura goes on and on about her fondest childhood memories, her guilty pleasure TV shows, and her hopes and ambitions for the future.

 

Somehow, in the middle of all this, the topic of Laura’s sexuality comes up.

 

“So, wait. You  _ really  _ didn’t know that I’m a lesbian?” Laura asks. 

 

Carmilla shakes her head. “No. After the way you responded to my flirting, I was starting to think you were straight.” 

 

Laura almost spits out her hot cocoa. She swallows hard, grateful that none of it comes out of her nose. “ _ Flirting?! _ ” 

 

“Guilty as charged.”

 

“I have seen absolutely none of this flirting you're talking about,” Laura protests. “As far as I could tell, you’ve done nothing but annoy me and make fun of me since the day you moved in.” 

 

Carmilla furrows her brows. “Wait, you thought that was me making fun of you?” 

 

“Well, if you weren’t trying to make fun of me, then what were you...” Laura’s face travels a long journey through many expressions until she finally lands on the most smug smile Carmilla has ever seen. “Oh.  _ Oh.  _ So... When you were hitting on me, you were  _ really _ hitting on me.” 

 

Carmilla grins, and Laura immediately notices the difference from the last time she saw the girl smile. Gone is the confident smirk that once graced her roommate’s face. In its place is a smile that’s shy, flustered, almost vulnerable. It’s a smile that reminds her of the time Laura caught her staring at the stars that one night. “Yeah. And you were too oblivious to notice.” 

 

“I am not oblivious! Maybe you're just terrible at flirting.” Laura raises an eyebrow, challenging her roommate. 

 

“Oh, please. I’ll have you know I am an expert flirt.”

 

Laura purses her lips. “I’m going to need more proof.”

 

“Always the journalist,” Carmilla sighs. 

 

“I still don't understand, though.  _ If _ you were really flirting with me... why?”

 

Carmilla’s dark eyes are burning into Laura’s. She brings her mug up to her lips and takes a sip. “In case you haven't noticed, and I’m sure you haven’t since we’ve already established that you’re the most oblivious human on the planet... you're cute. And sure, you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but it’s endearing.” 

 

Laura doesn't need to look in a mirror to know that her face is beet red. And her heart is pounding. “Well, as far as roommates go, you're not too bad yourself,” she admits. 

 

“I’ve gotta give it up to the puppy. He really does know my type.” 

 

“Not the best at classic literature, but he sure is one hell of a wingman.” 

 

The conversation flows even more naturally after that. They’re so invested in each other that they don't notice that it’s gotten dark and all the other patrons have left the café. 

 

An employee approaches them. “Excuse me, we’re getting ready to close soon,” he informs them, then scurries back behind the counter. 

 

Carmilla stares at Laura from across the table. “So, do you want to continue this date elsewhere? Maybe we could head back to my place,” She asks, playfully. 

 

“Hmm. My place is nicer,” Laura jokes. She gets up from her chair and ties her scarf back around her neck, making a mental note to thank Kirsch later. “Although I should probably check in with my broody jerkface roommate before I bring someone home.” 

 

Carmilla’s shy smile reappears. She reaches out to take Laura’s hand.“I don't think she’ll mind.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this silly little one shot.


End file.
